The lives of international students take a stark contrast when they set their feet in a new country with high dreams and expectations shining in their eyes. Being pampered like a king in their motherland by family members and childhood friends, it becomes a shock for them when they have to lead lives like ordinary men. Although Western regions like Europe and North America receive increasing amounts of international students, primarily from Asian countries, due to their glamor and attractive lifestyles, all hopes get spilled with water when you start experiencing life here like an international student and not a carefree tourist. This article indulges in the main challenges and obstacles that international students from Asia and the Middle East encounter while studying abroad.
The Appealing Mirage
Studying abroad seems like an appealing mirage of prestige to Asian students as they start visualizing themselves enjoying and partying in the charming downtowns of Western countries while believing to get a priceless education. It also makes them feel superior among their local network, as studying in the West costs a fortune for international students, and most people believe that children from affluent backgrounds must go to study abroad. However, they live in false hopes by thinking on all these terms. First, there is hardly a difference between education in the West and the East, as countries like India, China, and the Middle East also have well-known universities and colleges. Still, they get overshadowed by the name of the West. Moreover, life in the West as an international student differs from partying and sightseeing the scenery. It is ultimately another world out of your expectations.
Challenges Faced By International Students
Do Everything Yourself
One of the critical problems faced by Asian students in the West is when they have to do all the household chores and errands by themselves without expecting external help, unlike in their home countries. It is a shock for them when they know they must vacuum their house, cook meals, wash dishes, do laundry, and clean the toilets. Due to cultural and traditional differences, international students face a huge disappointment because they are unused to doing all these tasks in their homeland.
Get A Part-Time Job
Due to the high tuition fees for international students and the rising costs of everyday expenditures, most start looking for part-time jobs. However, they get bewildered at knowing that most jobs for students require physical labor, like working as servers in a restaurant or ice cream parlor or delivering goods.
Eat What You Get
Students often need to battle with their taste in homemade food, which is impossible to find abroad. As a result, they struggle with their eating habits and mostly rely on packed items from grocery stores like Whole Foods and Walmart.
No Means No
Hospitality flows abundantly in Asian and Middle East countries where the students are used to being solicited repeatedly if they refuse something out of embarrassment. However, in the West, no means no, and once you refuse to accept something, forget that you will be offered the same thing again.
Invisible Discrimination
While we may comfort ourselves by saying that discrimination does not exist today, it is illegal and extinct, the truth remains that most international students become a target of invisible discrimination when they are excluded politely from Western groups, get rejected at times for jobs when there is a Western candidate, and may get secretly mocked at for their customs.
CONCLUSION
Life for international students is tough, like being on a battlefield, as all comforts vanish with the demand to sweat in the sun to survive. This article does not criticize anyone for dreaming of studying in the West or demotivates you from your future ambitions. Instead, it provides a clear picture of your life as an international student so that you do not pursue your goals with different expectations.
